My last year in rooms with Fred, Jack and Henderson was the best of
four good years at Oxford. Everything, except Jack's luck, was so
exactly right, and I was most delightfully happy. The college was
doing as well as we could want, and most of the dons, led I am certain
by The Bradder, behaved splendidly. The Freshers' Wine became an
organized institution and ceased to be a sort of "hole and corner"
entertainment, at which every one made a most horrible noise because
they ought not to have made any at all. In my spare time, and I had
not much, I caught myself regretting that I had ever been stupid enough
to carry on long battles with Mr. Edwardes, it seemed to me that I
might have been more peaceful, but the fact remains that he and I were
not made for each other.
Until the time began to grow near for me to go down from Oxford I never
felt as strong an affection for the 'Varsity as I had for Cliborough.
I think the reason was that Oxford is such a huge place, that it took
me some time to realize how splendid it is. I missed the feeling of
unity which there was at Cliborough, and I supplied my loss by going
furiously to work in trying to make the college less slack. Certainly
St. Cuthbert's, owing more to Jack's efforts than mine, had changed
very much, but in setting our minds absolutely on one thing for two
years we had missed a lot, even if we had been successful in what we
wanted to do. Our last year, however, made up for everything, and when
we came back for the summer term examinations had lost their horrors,
and the only thing I regretted was that in eight short weeks my time at
Oxford would be over.
The Bradder, who watched over me like a prospective brother-in-law,
encouraged me to think that I should not do very badly in the
"schools," but I think he was rather agitated when Henderson chose me
to play for the 'Varsity against the Gentlemen of England, and in a
very bad light I got more wickets than I ever expected to get in a
first-class match. That performance gave me a good start in the
'Varsity XI., and The Bradder was desperately afraid that I should stop
reading altogether. But Fred and Jack were both hard at work, and
except on one evening a week Henderson had to go into a separate room
when he wanted to entertain his numerous friends. Jack rowed in our
Eight, and they went up to fourth. They would have been second if they
had been lucky, but as it was they intended to go to Henley.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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